Category «Mobile Technology»

How to turn phone-aholics and others into library book readers and gung-ho patrons, if they aren’t already? One answer is greater visibility for libraries on the Web and elsewhere. David Rothman explains that’s what Koios, Troy Gordner’s company, is about. Rothman, a national digital library evangelist, also shares innovative ideas that many libraries can implement to raise their visibility, accessibility and viability now and into the future.

John Hawthorne lays out the pros and cons of BYOD policies in the workplace as well as reviewing challenges that arise between employees and IT regarding securing operational data, the lack of clearly articulated and managed use of devices for non work related activities and risks associated with employee activities conducted on personal devices.

Marcus Zillman’s comprehensive, actionable guide provides links to hundreds of resources that assist students of all ages to leverage free and low cost resources to facilitate more efficient, effective learning – either as an individual, as part of a team, in a classroom, or as a member of a project oriented group. Whether you are seeking best practices for individual or team study – including guides, apps, wikis, tutorials, links to free courses and academic topical and subject guides, or how to locate e-text books and how to correctly create bibliographies and citations, this guide has all this information and so much more. If you are a student, an educator, a librarian or a researcher, these resources, many of which are from colleges, universities, libraries and schools, will expand your horizons and support your effort to be a creative, innovative, successful learner.

Nicole Black discusses how data downloaded from wearable technology has entered into the discovery phase of personal injury cases. A wealth of data can be collected about the direct activities of individuals who are using wearable devices while exercising, as well as conducting routine and regular activities such as walking. The implications of this concept may have considerable implications on par with those pertaining to the use of social media.

David Rothman calls out an increasingly pervasive dichotomy of action by some of America’s wealthiest corporate philanthropists in regard to supporting libraries, literacy and equal access to comprehensive public library collections. As Rothman documents, Omaha Public Libraries’ spending per capita is substantially below that of surrounding communities and the current national average on library content spending is $4 per capita – or less than the price of a Big Mac. The National digital library endowment is certainly in need of public and private support on a significant and transparent level, and Rothman continues to advocate for progress to achieve this goal.

Many librarians have a set of research guides that they are responsible for keeping up to date, but finding time to devote to this important task can be extremely difficult. As libraries migrate to LibGuides 2.0, many are using this opportunity to study their users’ preferences, implement new policies, and completely refresh their research guide collection. If your library is going through this process, or you are simply planning on using the (relatively) calm summer months to update your research guides, here are ten best practice tips to keep in mind – by Kara Dunn, D`Angelo Law Library.

E-book sales are not posting impressive sales increases, at least not among big publishers. One major reason is that much of the technology is difficult to use. Even increased library statistics for e-loans are not resulting in corresponding increases in funding and support for libraries around the country. Based on more than two decades of writing about e-books, David Rothman suggests seven library-and-consumer friendly ways to boost e-book growth.

Long time public library advocate David Rothman shares what he identifies as the Six Big Issues for libraries, and a related discussion about each. They are: 1. Whether public libraries will even exist half a century from now; 2. The urgent need for a national digital library endowment to help fund two separate but intertwined systems, one public and one academic; 3. America’s changing demographics. Can public libraries respond when both their hiring practices and book collections lag so badly in this respect?; 4. Copyright threats and opportunities; 5. Threats to patron confidentiality from governments, marketers and others; 6. Censorship and onerous porn-filter requirements.

Nicole Black predicts that smartwatches will soon be very popular with lawyers as they offer an easy and unobtrusive way to filter only the most important information received on your smartphone. So if you’re expecting a priority email or phone call, you can program your phone to forward it to your smartwatch so that you’ll receive a subtle vibration on your wrist. This will come in handy when you’re in court, for example. So instead of causing a disruption in the proceedings, you can leave the room quietly and tend to the matter in the hallway with no one else the wiser.

More and more lawyers are moving to Web-based legal software because it’s convenient, provides 24/7 on-the-go-access to case-related information, and is affordable. Lawyer and legal tech expert Nicole Black says the good news is now that cloud computing is becoming more familiar and accepted, new platforms are being introduced into the legal marketplace at record speed. She explains how to make effective business choices when determining how and what cloud based applications to use.

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